LSU Football: Tigers close to pulling off big hire

LSU football is reportedly close to pulling off a big hire.

LSU football could have a new defensive coordinator in the very near future.

According to a report from Football Scoop, the Tigers are close to finalizing a deal with Marcus Freeman to become LSU’s new defensive coordinator.

Freeman is currently the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bearcats.

LSU parted ways with Bo Pelini after the 2020 season after just one season on Ed Orgeron’s staff.

If LSU football locks down Freeman it’ll be a surprise

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t see this coming with Freeman.

All the signs pointed to Freeman not landing in Baton Rouge.

Early reports indicated that Freeman wanted to stay at Cincinnati and wait on a head coaching gig.

Then there was the involvement of Notre Dame in this search.

Freeman is a native of the midwest and has connections to staff members at Notre Dame. He’s spent most of his life in either Ohio or Indiana. It seemed to make sense that Freeman would prefer to stay in that part of the country.

But Freeman obviously views LSU as a better opportunity.

And can you blame him?

There’s nothing like coaching in the SEC — especially when you’re coaching home games at LSU.

If you have success as a defensive coordinator in the SEC, you’re almost guaranteed to get a head coaching gig quickly (just ask Dave Aranda, among others).

This deal isn’t done yet, but it sounds like it won’t be long before it is.

If this gets done, it will mean that Coach O went out and got the hottest defensive coach on the market.

Not bad for a coach coming off a “down” season.